Rotary toothbrush



Nov. 30,1926.

.- W. G. ROBEY ROTARY TOOTHBRUSH Filed March 29111111111111111111111141'lll/1,11IMI/Wg] IllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIIA INVENTOR 6 POEY ATTORNEY ifllllll- Patented Nov. 30, 1926.

UNITED/STATES NPa'leiar OFFICE.

WILLIAM GOFF ROBEY, OF GRAFTO, XVEST VIRGINIA.

ROTARY TOOTHBRUSI-I.

This invention is anV improvement in tooth brushes, and moreparticularly' in" brushes ofthe YrotarV type.

The tooth7 brushes usually employed do not'thoroughly cleanse the teeth,because it L is difficult toy applyv Vthe brush to allparts of the teethin the approved manner, that is, With the bristles moving from the rootstotvards the points, and when the brush is applied With the usualreciprocating Inovement, the interstices 'between the teethare t notreached.

i Rotary brushes as heretofore constructed havenot been suitable forindividual use, becauseL of complications in constructionor because ofbulli, and one of the primary objects of the present invention is theprovi'sion'of a light Weight, small and compact motor operatedl brush ofthe rotary type, wherein the motor is manually operated, and of a sizeto be conveniently held in one hand and operated by the said hand,leaving the other hand free to manipulate the brush.

Another object is the provision of a simply constructed brush of thecharacter specified which may be economically manufac tured, and soldata reasonable price.

' Vitli these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts fully described hereinafter,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claimsappended hereto, it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion, size and minor details of construction Within the scope ofthe claims, may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of theinvention.`

In the drawings forming a part hereof L-f Figure 1 is a side elevationwith the motor casingin section.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the brush supporting element.Figure 4 isa section on the line of Figure 3.

The present embodiment of the invention comprises 'a brush and itssupporting mechanism inwvhich the brush is rotatably mounted, and amotor for driving the brush, the motor'1 being manually" operated landconnected to thebrush by a flexible shaft in the usual manner. The motoralso is of such size that it may be easily held in the Application meaMarch 2,9, 192e. .sel-iai No. eaosl.

hand, and operated While so held, leaving the other hand free tomanipulate the brush.

The motor is held in a casing 1, which preferably is of cylindricalconstruction, and of any suitable material. The motor in cludes a shaft2, journalled in the end Walls of the casing at the center thereof, andthe shaft carries a fly-Wheel 3 of suliicient Weight to insure smooth,even running'of the motor when it is in operation.

At'one end of the shaft 2 a pinion 4 is secured, meshing with anotherpinion 5 on a jacl; or stub shaft 6 journalled in the end of the casing,and in a bearing bracket 7 secured to the casing wall. The jack shaftextends through the casing Wall, and outside of the ivall carriesafcoupling 8, for connection with the flexible shaft to be described.

At the opposite side of the fly-Wheel 3 from the pinion 4, a secondpinion 9 is secured to the shaft 2, and the pinion meshes with a pinion10 on a counter-shaft 11, journalled in asubstantially U-shaped bracket12 extending'radially from the casing Wall. The pinion 10 `is relativelylarge, and a second pinion 13 relatively small is rigidly connected withthe pinion 10.

This pinion 13 meshes with a gear Wheel 14, at one end of a hub orsleeve 15 Which is loosely journalled on the shaft 2. The sleeve 15 isprovided at its other` end with al ratchet Wheel 16, and it will beevident that when the ratchet Wheel is rotated, in a manner to bepresently described, the shaft .2 will be driven through the gears 14,13, 10l

and 9. The said gears provide a speeding up gear train for rotating theshaft 2 at a speed relatively high as compared with the speed ofrotation of the sleeve 15. The motion of the shaft 2 is transmitted tothe jack shaft 6, by the gears 4 and 5,- and at a yet higher rate asapplied to the shaft 6.

The ratchet Wheel 16 is rotated by means of a pavvl 17. This pavvl ispivoted `to an arc shaped member 18, in the form of a plate of materialsimilar to that of the casing 1, and the said plate is sli-dably mountedon the inner face of the side v vall of the casing rotating on the shaft2. The plate has radial extensions 1S? Which are journalled on theshaft, and the plate is free to swing in.- an arc shaped path limited bya'handle member to be presently described. It lWill be noticed,referring to Figure 2, that the cas Vand they are preferably so arrangedthatV cover a little more than half ing side wall is cutaway vasindicated at 19 for enabling the movement of a substantially U-shapedhandle 20 connected with the plate, and extending through the opening. Y

The handle 2O has the arms thereof secured to the plate 18, and on thebody portion of the handle a grip 21 is mounted, the said grip being ofany suitable material, as for instance, soft rubber or the like Anotherhandle 22 of U-shape is connected with the casing 1. The arms of thehandle 22 may be securedV to the casing 1 in any suitable manner, orthey may be integral therewith, as may be found desirable in practice,and the body of the handle 22 also carries a soft rubber grip 23.

'A spring 24C is arranged between the plate 18 and the casing 1, and thespring is designed to hold the yplate and the handles in normalposition.y When the grips 21 and 23 are moved toward each other, Ithepawl engages the teeth and rotates the ratchet wheel.A l/Vhen thepressure on the grips is released, the sprin moves the plate 18 in theopposite direction, and the pawl slips lidly over .the teeth of theratchet wheel. The movement of the ratchet Vwheel is imparted to thejack shaft 6, and to the brush to be presently described, the movementof the shaft 2 being steadied, governed and made uniformed by the iywheel 3.

The toothbrush proper comprises a cylindrical body 25, having tufts 26of bristles 4extending radially therefrom. The bristles may be of anydesired nature and character,

the contour of the brush as a whole is elliptical. The body 25 has areduced axial extension 27, which at the end remote from the Vbrush is'polygonal in cross section, to engage within a socket 28 on a shaft 29.The

shaft 29 is journalled in a trough shaped Y casing 30 of any suitablematerial, having at I the end adjacent to the brush a spoon bowl shapedenlargement 31. j

fThe enlargement 31 is of dimensions to of the brush, and acts as ashield to protect the soft tissues of the mouth from the vaction of thebristles. Roller bearings 27 are provided for supportingV the extension27 in the trough, andthe shaft 29 is relatively fixed in the trough, sofar asregards bodily movementI That endfof the trough remote fromV theenlargement 31 has connected therewith, threadedly as shown, a tubular;extension 32. The remote end of this extension is threaded toengagewithin a coupling 33 at one end of aflexible shaft 34 of usualconstruction, the

,other end of theI shaft being adapted to engage within the coupling 8before mentioned. VReferring to Figures l and 3, it will be noticedkthat the connection between the shafts l'34 andl29 is Ythe usual socketconnection, and the coupling 33 by its engagement with the tubularextension 32 prev-ents disengagement of the shafts. A similar connectionis provided at 8, between the jack shaft and the flexible'shaft. Thecoupling S is a threaded cap which engages thecasing of the flexibleshaft, holding the socleted parts together. rIhe engagement between thejack shaft and the rotary part of the iiexible shaft at 8 is similar tothat shown at the left of Figure 3 between the shafts 34 and 29.

To disengage the fiexible shaft from the jack shaft, the cap is releasedfrom the flexible shaft, after which the shaftsl may be moved away fromeach other. This is also 'true with the connection atf33. Referring toFigure 1 it will be noticed that housing members 35 are arranged at theends of the shaft 2, and these housing members have oil holes by meansof which the motor maybe lubricated. i

In opera/tion, the brush is held in either hand, grasping the handle 52.The motor is heldin thev other hand, the hand engaging the! grips 21 and23. When the grips are pressed together, the ratchet wheel is rotated,the motion being transmitted to the brush. Vhen the pressure on thegrips is relaxed, the spring returns the parts to normal position.'

It will be noticed referring to the drawing, that the entire length ofbrush and handle is in smooth regular lines, with no rough edges,corners or the like to touch the lthe handleadjacent to the exible shaftis provided with a tubular grip fitting closely thereof, the said gripbeing indicated at 52, and the edges of the trough shaped portion of thehandle are rounded. The free edge of the bowl is beaded or enlarged asshown at 53 entirely around the bowl. Y

What isv claimed as new is t 1. A -motorl for rotary tooth brushes,adapted to be held in one hand and operated thereby, including acylindrical casing having a -radial handle member and an opening in theside wall adjacent thereto, a shaft at the axis of the casing andprovided with a fiywheel, a sliding plate mounted withinthe casing atthe opening'and closing the same, said plate provided with a.handle'member extending through the opening, the handle Y membersadapted to be gripped by the hand supporting the motor to movethemtoward `each other,'a spring acting on the plate to move the handlemembers apart, a pawl and ratchet connectionbetween the plate and thedriven byv the pawl engaging the Wheel when the handle members are movedtoward each other, a speeding up gear train between the ratchet wheeland the shaft, and a coupling shaft parallel with the first named shaftand having a driving connection therewith, and extending throngh one endWall of the casing.

Signed at Grafton, in the county of Taylor, and State of Test Virginia,this 17th day of March A. D. 1926.

WILLIAM GOFF ROBEY.

